Garab Dorje

Garab Dorje (c. 665) (Tibetan: དགའ་རབ་རྡོ་རྗེ་, Wylie: dga’ rab rdo rje)[1] was the first human to receive the complete direct transmission teachings of Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen.

According to the Nyingma school tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, he transmitted the profound empowerments of Dzogchen to his chief disciple, Manjushrimitra, and is also believed to have imparted these teachings to Padmasambhava.

This teaching is considered the pinnacle of Dzogchen wisdom, focusing on direct recognition of the nature of mind, single-pointed concentration, and confidence in liberating thoughts.

Garab Dorje's writings, attributed to him, are essential texts in the Dzogchen tradition, further solidifying his influence and significance in Tibetan Buddhism's Nyingma school.

That said, John Myrdhin Reynolds cited Prahevajra or Pramodavajra in his book Self-Liberation Through Seeing with Naked Awareness [rig pa ngo sprod gcer mthong rang grol].

[2][1] According to the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, Garab Dorje transmitted the complete empowerments of Dzogchen to Manjushrimitra,[3] who was regarded as his chief disciple.

[6] A detailed interpretation of the hagiographic nativity of Garab Dorje briefly contextualizes his mother, a bhikṣuṇī whose sadhana was Yoga tantra, and her parents.

The bhiksuni daughter has a dream in which a man holds the vase of the Astamangala, the 'threefold world', with the syllables 'oṃ  ā  hūṃ' and svāhā: The Lord of Secrets (gSang-ba'i-bdag-po) instructed the Holders of Wisdom (Rig-'dsin) in Dhanakośa in Uḍḍiyāna the contemporary Swat valley.

Garab Dorje then gave Manjushrimitra the complete Dzogchen empowerments, and summarized his teaching as follows: The nature of mind is the original Buddha without birth or cessation, like the sky!